It is Catch - Up Time, I guess! Once the week got under way everything has progressed at a rather fast pace. I actually am on limited time this morning too, so I came over to school to do this a bit faster.
Wednesday, was a day full of wonderful activities and fun. There was quite a rain/wind storm going on so outdoor activities weren't much of an option for us, but it didn't stop what we were doing.
In the morning, I took some time to work in my classroom until Sunita (a gal both Janice and I used to teach with and "play with" when we lived here) kindly drove up to OCSI so we could catch up again. It was nice to see her and hear how she was doing.
It was "BIG DIP" day that day, so after three different reschedule attempts, Janice and I were finally able to meet Mary and Gay down at the Blue Seal Ice Cream restaurant for our treat. I celebrated with a scoop of Ube, Okinawan Salt Cookie, and Matcha! Oishi Desu!
Then, the fun really began!
Nancy Perete and Aidy Cruzado (sisters who work at school with us) treated Janice and I to 3 hours of Karaoke, birthday cake, and FUN FUN FUN! We had a lot of laughs. Wow....I wasn't very good! I didn't even nail my two Barbara Mandrell songs. Sigh...I'm losing my touch! Seriously, it was a wonderful day of memories and fun. Janice even SANG!!!
The next day, Thursday, was Janice's last day on island. A group of us: Gay, Mary, Linda (who had just arrived on island) Janice, and I all went to the Yomitan Kokuto factory - a place where they refine sugar cane and turn it into candy or sugar. We got to see them boil the juice down and then pour it into pans to cool and cut. Then, of course, we were also able to sample it!
The weather still left a lot to be desired that day. As a matter of fact it was so windy I was worried that Janice's plan wouldn't leave on time. After taking some pictures at the lighthouse and of our very stirred up ocean, we did start our trip down to the airport. Upon checking in, Janice did learn that her flight would be delayed 3 hours! We wandered over to the domestic terminal and looked around some, but the process of saying good-bye over and over again gets very hard. Janice was worried about me catching up with Randy and Kathy (whom I was meeting that evening) and I think she was ready to just sit and decompress. With much prayer I did leave her at the airport, but continued to pray that she would make it to Shanghai that night. I just heard from her sister that she is back in the US now, so I will assume all went well - just not on schedule.
I did meet up with Randy and Kathy and we just sat and talked at the food court at Jusco (which is no longer Jusco but AEON - or something like that. Just like Max Value is still PriMart . . .Aeon may remain Jusco for me) for almost 3 hours - until we heard that Janice was safely boarding.
Yesterday, Friday, I spent the morning and much of the afternoon at school getting ready for the kids and chapel on Monday. When I got most things in order and taken care of, I called Randy and Kathy and we met to take a trip down to Ryubo department store. There was a display of some sort that I never did figure out why he wanted to go see it. It was food stuffs from another prefecture of Japan. Nobody could tell me which one, but it had to be further north as they had cherries and apples in a lot of their things. After exploring many stores (Muji, 100 yen, and an Okinawan tourist trap) I drove home and crashed! I'd also like to add the only purchases I made all day were: a new pair of UGLY sunglasses, and some bandanas to tie my hair back. Walking in this humidity and crazy wind makes my hair go crazy! It was sticking in my eyes, around my face and everywhere that morning. I had enough of that, so I had tied my jacket around my head (turban style) in order to get home. I hopefully won't have to deal with that any more!
Today? I'm unsure what the day will hold, but a lot of details (cleaning, school work, errands, planning, etc. have to take place at some time!) There is a barbecue at church, church service tonight at Koza, and I am supposed to meet up with three people there, so . . . We'll see where the day takes me!
Thank you all for your continued prayer support and interest. The real work begins now!
In the morning, I took some time to work in my classroom until Sunita (a gal both Janice and I used to teach with and "play with" when we lived here) kindly drove up to OCSI so we could catch up again. It was nice to see her and hear how she was doing.
It was "BIG DIP" day that day, so after three different reschedule attempts, Janice and I were finally able to meet Mary and Gay down at the Blue Seal Ice Cream restaurant for our treat. I celebrated with a scoop of Ube, Okinawan Salt Cookie, and Matcha! Oishi Desu!
Then, the fun really began!
Nancy Perete and Aidy Cruzado (sisters who work at school with us) treated Janice and I to 3 hours of Karaoke, birthday cake, and FUN FUN FUN! We had a lot of laughs. Wow....I wasn't very good! I didn't even nail my two Barbara Mandrell songs. Sigh...I'm losing my touch! Seriously, it was a wonderful day of memories and fun. Janice even SANG!!!
The next day, Thursday, was Janice's last day on island. A group of us: Gay, Mary, Linda (who had just arrived on island) Janice, and I all went to the Yomitan Kokuto factory - a place where they refine sugar cane and turn it into candy or sugar. We got to see them boil the juice down and then pour it into pans to cool and cut. Then, of course, we were also able to sample it!
The weather still left a lot to be desired that day. As a matter of fact it was so windy I was worried that Janice's plan wouldn't leave on time. After taking some pictures at the lighthouse and of our very stirred up ocean, we did start our trip down to the airport. Upon checking in, Janice did learn that her flight would be delayed 3 hours! We wandered over to the domestic terminal and looked around some, but the process of saying good-bye over and over again gets very hard. Janice was worried about me catching up with Randy and Kathy (whom I was meeting that evening) and I think she was ready to just sit and decompress. With much prayer I did leave her at the airport, but continued to pray that she would make it to Shanghai that night. I just heard from her sister that she is back in the US now, so I will assume all went well - just not on schedule.
I did meet up with Randy and Kathy and we just sat and talked at the food court at Jusco (which is no longer Jusco but AEON - or something like that. Just like Max Value is still PriMart . . .Aeon may remain Jusco for me) for almost 3 hours - until we heard that Janice was safely boarding.
Yesterday, Friday, I spent the morning and much of the afternoon at school getting ready for the kids and chapel on Monday. When I got most things in order and taken care of, I called Randy and Kathy and we met to take a trip down to Ryubo department store. There was a display of some sort that I never did figure out why he wanted to go see it. It was food stuffs from another prefecture of Japan. Nobody could tell me which one, but it had to be further north as they had cherries and apples in a lot of their things. After exploring many stores (Muji, 100 yen, and an Okinawan tourist trap) I drove home and crashed! I'd also like to add the only purchases I made all day were: a new pair of UGLY sunglasses, and some bandanas to tie my hair back. Walking in this humidity and crazy wind makes my hair go crazy! It was sticking in my eyes, around my face and everywhere that morning. I had enough of that, so I had tied my jacket around my head (turban style) in order to get home. I hopefully won't have to deal with that any more!
Today? I'm unsure what the day will hold, but a lot of details (cleaning, school work, errands, planning, etc. have to take place at some time!) There is a barbecue at church, church service tonight at Koza, and I am supposed to meet up with three people there, so . . . We'll see where the day takes me!
Thank you all for your continued prayer support and interest. The real work begins now!
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